What is a home?

We've been with bare necessities for awhile now.  I'm starting to miss the comforts of our home.  Those soft downy fresh sheets to lie in, the special tea cup with dainty flowers I drink from, and even looking at the beautiful paintings Grandma Russell painted.  I miss it all, all those special things that make our home,a home.  Why am I missing all this stuff?  It's just stuff that can be lived without.  I began to wonder if I was materialistic or if I have such a hold on the things of this world that I miss it when I don't have it. I know  I don't need all this stuff to be happy or to even be content.  I can be very happy and content even without all the stuff. It's not a discontent feeling I'm having it's just a missing home feeling.
I know if you haven't had to go without your own belongings for a long period of time, you may not understand what I am going through. It's a type of empty feeling inside of you when you know you don't have a "home" to go to. It seems like this has just been one long vacation and we're ready to go home now...only we can't just go home. Try to think of the enjoyment you get when being on a long vacation and then knowing you are going home. Isn't that a great feeling, just knowing you are going to be home soon? We all have that deep inner desire to be home again. Vacations are great, but there's no place like home. I began to wonder why that is. What makes home so special? We have all our "needs" provided for here at the TLF with laundry facility, dishes,clothes, even pictures on the wall. I have all my children and even my husband with me, yet I still miss home. I don't think it has anything to do with the actual home itself or even most of the stuff inside the home. I think it has something to do with all those memories, people, and objects with memories attached to them, that are inside that building we call home. God has so designed us to have this amazing mind to remember those things that are most significant to us (both good and bad). That "stuff" that's inside of your home is all a part of who you are. Where you hang the picture and what picture you hang, or what plant you place in the corner, or even just where you put the dishes and what type of dishes you own. It all tells a part of who you are and where you've been. There's something to be said about all that stuff we have in our home. It's part of bringing back some of those most loved and cherished memories. It's part of telling your story and the story to come. I'm not saying to store your treasures here on earth, but I am saying that all that stuff does have a purpose. I'm so glad God has allowed us to have those treasures that bring back such sweet memories. We can live without them, but my choice would be to live with them and enjoy those special memories in what I call a home. Our "memories" should be on a ship coming across the Atlantic Ocean. I do pray it all gets here safely, but if for some reason it doesn't, I know God will provide new memories, new stuff, and new people to create memories with. Praise be to God for providing for all our needs-memories and all.

Some of my most loved Treasures!